COMBINE flours, baking soda and salt in small bowl. Beat butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar and vanilla extract in large mixer bowl until creamy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Gradually beat in flour mixture. Stir in morsels and nuts. Drop by rounded tablespoon onto ungreased baking sheets.

BAKE for 9 to 11 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on baking sheets for 2 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool completely.

To be honest, I don't know what "cocotte" means and perhaps saying "poached" undoes it's meaning, but we'll just go with it for now. I saw this recipe and thought it sounded interesting. The only catch - it called for ramekins to prepare it in...which I don't have...and I didn't want to just go out and buy them, so I adapted this for a poached egg pan, which I DO own. The result was creamy and delicious!

Yeah, I forgot to take a picture and when I remembered, this was all that was left after making 8 eggs. Oh well. You get the idea, right?

HOW TO PREPARE:
Use small ramekins* or souffle molds holding no more than 1/2 cup. Butter the molds and sprinkle salt, pepper and parsley in the bottom of each. Add 1 tbsp of heavy cream to each ramekin and break an egg on top.

Place the ramekins side by side in a large skillet and surround them with enough tepid water to come partway up the sides. Cover, bring the water to a boil and let cook for approximately 4 minutes, until the eggs are barely set and still sock in the center.

Remove the ramekins from the skillet. Sprinkle with a little salt, pepper, and parsley, if desired. Serve.

My husband and I lived in upstate New York our first summer of marriage. We sampled salted potatoes there and they were delicious! Recently, I wanted to recreate them and came across this recipe. There is an entertaining video below that goes along with it. Enjoy!

HOW TO PREPARE:
Put potatoes in large saucepan. Cover with salt and then cold water. Turn over high heat. Boil for 20 minutes or until potatoes are soft. Drain from water and serve with melted butter. Yields 6 servings.

Saturday, September 6, 2014

I made this tonight and it was a hit! I was nervous about cooking with turmeric, but it was delicious.

Grilled Tandoori-Style Chicken

INGREDIENTS:

8-10 boneless, skinless chicken thighs (about 2 ½ pounds)

¾ cup plain greek yogurt

1 lemon, zested and then juiced

4 cloves garlic, minced

1 ½ tbsp minced onion

¼ cup olive oil

1 ½ tsp salt

¼ tsp ground pepper

1 tbsp paprika

2 tsp ground cumin

2 tsp ground ginger

1 tsp turmeric

Cilantro, for garnish (optional)

HOW TO PREPARE:

1.Rinse chicken thighs in cold water and pat dry. Trim off excess fat, if necessary, and place chicken in a large, heavy duty ziplock bag.

2.Place all remaining ingredients (except for cilantro) in a blender or food processor. Process until smooth and then pour into the ziplock bag with the chicken. Toss to coat all chicken pieces. Place in the fridge and marinate from 8-24 hours.

HOW TO PREPARE:
Around lunchtime, add all ingredients to slow cooker. Cook on high for several hours, give the meat a stir and break it up occasionally. Turn to low after the meat looks like it is mostly cooked. That's it!

I made this for my birthday this year. It was a hit amongst all my family! I found the recipe here.

Chocolate Mousse Cake

My photo.

INGREDIENTS:

CAKE

1 cup + 2 tablespoons gluten free flour

1/2 teaspoon xanthan gum (omit if your blend
already contains it)

11 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder

3/8 teaspoon kosher salt

3/8 teaspoon baking soda

3/4 cup sugar

1/2 cup + 1 tablespoon sour cream, at room
temperature

6 tablespoons vegetable oil

1 egg + 1 egg yolk (out of shell) at room
temperature, beaten

1/2 cup + 1 TBSP warm water (about 95°F)

CHOCOLATE MOUSSE

1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1/2 cup warm water

10 ounces dark chocolate, chopped

4 tablespoons unsalted butter, chopped

2 cups heavy whipping cream

1/4 cup confectioners’ sugar

HOW TO PREPARE:

Preheat your oven to 350°F. Grease an 8-inch
round springform baking pan and set it aside.

Make the cake. In a large bowl, place the
flour, xanthan gum, cocoa powder, salt, baking soda and sugar, and whisk to
combine well. Create a well in the center of the dry ingredients and add the
sour cream, oil, eggs and water, mixing to combine after each addition. The
batter should be very thickly pourable. Scrape the batter into the prepared
pan, smooth into an even layer and place in the center of the preheated oven.
Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out mostly
clean or with a few moist crumbs attached (about 30 minutes). Do not overbake.
Remove from the oven and allow to cool for 10 minutes in the pan before
inverting onto a wire rack to cool completely.

While the cake is cooling, make the
chocolate mousse. In a small bowl, whisk the cocoa powder into the warm water
until it dissolves completely. Set it aside. In a small, heat-safe bowl, place
the chopped chocolate and chopped butter, and place over a small saucepan of
simmering water, making sure the bowl does not touch the water. Melt the
chocolate and butter over the simmering water, stirring occasionally, until
smooth. Alternatively, you can melt them
together in the microwave in short, 30-second bursts, stirring well in between.
Remove the melted chocolate and butter, and whisk the cocoa powder dissolved in
water into it until smooth. Set the bowl aside. In the bowl of a stand mixer
fitted with the whisk attachment, or in a large bowl with a hand mixer, whip
the heavy whipping cream on medium-high speed until soft peaks form. Add the
confectioners’ sugar, and whip again until stiff, shiny peaks form. Pour the
chocolate mixture into the bowl of whipped cream slowly, carefully folding the
ingredients together and taking care not to deflate the whipped cream more than
necessary. Fold until no white streaks remain.

Assemble the cake. Spoon the chocolate
mousse onto the cake, and smooth the top. Refrigerate the cake until the chocolate
mousse is set (about 2 hours). Slice and serve chilled.